Episode 194
by Tetsuwan Penguin
Summary: The fleet of spaceships carrying humanity is returning to Earth now that the sun's solar constant is back to normal. Everyone is praising Atom as a hero as the world awaits his return from his mission that saved the world, only it is not to be, or is it? The story is a sequel to the last episode of the 1963 anime series. Plot idea is from the ending of ST2 and from ST3.
1. Chapter 1

**194**

 _One_

 **Professor Ochanomizu** had a good view of the sun from his observation post in the nose of the spaceship. On the monitor he could clearly see the projectile disappear into the star's coronasphere. Almost immediately his instruments registered a noticeable change in the outward flux of the solar neutrinos, the constant pulsating of the cosmic ray emissions were now gone as well. It seemed that Atom's plan was working, the device that the robot scientist Napoleon had constructed was doing its job.

Dr. Von Wormer of NASA, and Dr. Moss of the JSA had also observed the entry of the capsule containing the solar equalizer into the sun's atmosphere, and they both had measured its effect. The three scientists conversed over the video link and they mutually agreed that it would now be safe for the fleet to return to Earth.

The ship to ship chatter within the fleet carrying the human population of planet Earth suddenly picked up in intensity. No longer was it if, or even when they might be able to return home, now it was only a matter of getting in line as Duke Red, the admiral of the fleet began assigning landing coordinates and time slots to each of the thousands of space ships now resident among the solar system Lagrange points. Almost unanimously the former leaders of every Earthly state had voted to declare Atom a hero and hundreds of statues in his honor were committed to be erected in every corner of the world.

"I can only imagine what Atom's reaction will be to all of this," Mustachio told the professor. "He's such a modest individual."

"Yes I agree," the professor said. "It may be a good thing that the orbit of his spaceship placed it on a long return path via the opposite side of Earth's orbit, if he were able to hear all of the praise being heaped upon him, he might disappear in a state of Hikikomri for years."

"You know Hakase," the teacher said, "It does seem a bit strange that we've not heard back from him after he released the capsule sunward. Surly he'd have wanted to let us know that he'd succeeded."

"That thought did cross my mind," Ochanomizu said, "But the electromagnetic interference from the sun's coronasphere, plus the fact that his rocket would now be on the other side of our star which is blocking his radio transmissions, means we won't be hearing from him for some time until he is on the return side of his orbit. We'll be back on Earth before we see Atom again."

The captain of the spaceship stuck his head though the doorway of the observation deck. "Hakase," he said, "I've just gotten our orders from Admiral Red. Our ship will be in the first group to land. I'm going to have to order everyone to leave and get back to their cabins, we need to prepare for landing now!"

"Hai!" Ochanomizu replied, as he started to shut down his instruments. "I'll see you back in Tokyo after we land," he said.

Mustachio started on his way back to his cabin, but the professor turned to speak with the captain.

"Captain, is there any room up in the cockpit area?" the professor asked. "I'd like to be able to keep monitoring the instruments during our return to Earth."

"Yes Hakase, we do have one extra seat available up front." Captain Ketchup replied. "You're welcome to the jump seat if you like."

"Dōmo arigatō gozamiashita, Ketchup-san," the professor replied.

* * *

 **The Professor** had a good view of their approach to Earth as the ship left the L5 Lagrange point and entered an orbital path back home. It had been a little over a year since the massive fleet of spaceships had been hastily prepared for travel with almost all of the planet's population crowded on board. Almost all of the world's robots had been left behind, only those essential to the safe operation of the space fleet had been taken on board. The robots left behind on Earth were put in charge of the world, in the hope that some day mankind might be able to return.

"Time to buckle up, Hakase!," Ketchup said, looking over his shoulder at the professor. "We're in our final approach now!"

As the spaceport came into view, Ochanomizu could see that less than a dozen ships in the fleet had already landed and were still being unloaded. No doubt the government VIP's and officials of the JSA had been among the passengers of those ships.

The Professor could feel the deceleration forces getting stronger as the ship's braking engines increased their thrust. Finally he could fell the gentle jolt of the landing legs touching the ground as the spring loaded pads compressed and then released their tension as the main engines were shut down.

Ochanomizu unbuckled himself from the seat and turned to exit the cockpit. "Thank's for the ride up front," he told the captain. "I need to get to the Ministry ASAP, and check up on things. We left the computers on automatic while we were gone."

* * *

 **Professor Ochanomizu** grabbed one of the first available ground cars and programmed it to take him to the Ministry of Science. The ground car made it quickly from the JSA spaceport to the Ministry of Science, as few of the other spaceships had yet landed ground traffic in the Tokyo - Metro City area was quite light. The professor made his way up to his office to find the place exactly as he'd left it. The building's systems had kept the place clean, the air conditioning systems functioned perfectly, and the computer systems were all up and running.

The professor was happy to find that the building's plumbing was perfectly operational as he filled a small pot to boil water to make himself some tea, after finding some teabags in his desk still fresh in a sealed can. The Ministry's computer systems had remained operational during his stay in space thanks to the robotic crew left behind. As he turned on his desktop computer, Ochanomizu was surprised to discover that he had a video message sitting in his in box, dated just a few weeks ago. The professor clicked on the attachment and it started to play, as Atom's smiling face appeared on the computer screen.

"Hello Hakase!" Atom started, "I'm leaving you this message because I'm about to embark on a mission from which I may not return. As you already know, I've discovered a device that is capable of restoring the sun back to normal. It must be delivered into the atmosphere of the sun and then detonated. I will be flying it towards its target in a rocket that we've specially equipped for the mission. I hope we can put enough fuel on board to enable me to deliver the package and return back to Earth, but there are many risks, including an asteroid belt just inside of the orbit of Mercury. I hope I will return, but if I don't please tell my family not to grieve for me. I don't mind giving my life to save the Earth. It's been wonderful having you as a guardian. Sayōnara Hakase!"

 **Ochanomizu** had been worried about not hearing from Atom, although he had been telling himself and everyone else that it was unlikely that they would have heard any radio transmissions from him so close to the sun. Never the less he was worried, so he went to his computer to see if any of the ground based solar observatories had captured any images of his ship. The professor was sure that NASA and the JSA would have left their large solar telescopes operating via robotic control to gather as much information as possible about increase in the solar constant in an effort to find a fix for the problem that had caused mankind to abandon the Earth. Fortunately the robot Napoleon had already done that, and had invented the device that had fixed the problem.

Ochanomizu's computer scanned the databases for any recent images of the sun taken when Atom's ship was deploying the projectile. He soon found what he was looking for, and his face went sour. He could clearly see the spacecraft that Atom was piloting towards the sun, the ship was slowly drifting towards the star in a path that would slowly bring it into the coronasphere of the sun. It was clear that the payload section of the ship had already been released.

" _It's not on a return orbit towards Earth_ ," the professor muttered to himself. " _Something has gone wrong._ " He moved the mouse about and selected another image. This time he clearly saw the projectile several thousand miles from the rocket. It had just cleared a small asteroid belt inside of the orbit of Mercury. Something was clinging to the surface of the payload, as it entered the atmosphere of the star. Atom's last words were still ringing in the professor's ears and he realized what had happened. The boy robot must have pushed the device clear of the asteroid field himself and was unable to get back to the spacecraft. He probably rode the device into the sun himself and burned up as he activated it.

"I don't know how I'm going to be able to break the news to his family," Ochanomizu sighed, "Not to mention the entire world."

* * *

 **It took** several weeks for the last of the armada of spaceships to all return to their respective points of origin. Humanity was slowly getting used to being back home. All had high regard for the robots they had left behind, for mankind returned to find a world in better shape than it was when they had left it. Not only had the robots kept everything in working order, they had repaired and improved systems that had been damaged by the extreme heat.

The professor appeared at the door to Atom's house with his head bowed, and his hat in his hand. "I'm afraid I have bad news for you," he sighed as Atom's robot parents greeted him at the door.

"Atom isn't coming back," Ochanomizu told them. "We'd hoped that the reason we never heard from him was because his ship was making a return path around the backside of the sun, that would have been the obvious path he'd have to take to use the least amount of rocket fuel."

"His ship got too close to the sun, didn't it?" Atom's mother said.

"That may have been the problem," the professor replied. "It does look like he had to manually direct the device through an asteroid field, he probably rode the projectile all the way into the sun."

"That does sound like our little hero," Atom's father sobbed, "always so self sacrificing to save others."

"He was probably very happy to do it," Atom's mother agreed, her eyes tearing.

Uran and Cobalt came into the front room, both of them whimpering in tears. "We were in our rooms and we heard," Uran sobbed. Little Chi-tan being held in his sisters arms started to cry, and the house shook from his 130db screams. The professor quickly stuck his fingers in his ears. Uran rocked her little brother in her arms and stuck a pacifier in his mouth to quiet him.

"I'm going to make an announcement on global TV tonight," Ochanomizu said. "I wanted to break the bad news to you first, I'm sure that there will be memorial services for Atom all around the world."

"Thank you," Atom's parents replied.

"I need to go now," the professor said. "I have many things to take care of."

Cobalt's eyes glazed over, "It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done; It is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.", he muttered without realizing he was saying it.


	2. Chapter 2

**194**

 _Two_

 **It** had been the most difficult thing he'd ever done, Professor Ochanomizu thought. He found the black suit that he'd last worn to the funeral of his late wife decades ago and dusted it off. He had to find a seamstress to let the suit out, and even after the alteration it was still tight on him, but the TV cameras hid most of that. After he'd made the announcement over the evening newscast that Atom was lost in the sun saving the world, he'd been besieged with phone calls and emails of sympathy. The emperor declared a national week of mourning, and directed that a statue of the fallen hero be erected both on the palace grounds and at the entrance to the Diet Complex at the government center. On the first day of the week of mourning for Atom, Tōrō Nagashi ceremonies were to be held near every flowing body of water in the country, lighting up the night with lanterns drifting towards the sea.

* * *

 **A small** crowd had gathered by the river not far from the Ministry of Science. Professor Ochanomizu, Mustachio, Uran, Cobalt, and their parents each had made a small cardboard boat and had placed a small candle in it. They each lit their floating lanterns and set the adrift.

"I'm going to miss him," Mustachio sighed, "he was one of my best students."

Standing behind the teacher, Tamao and Shibugaki had also released boats that they had made. Tamao held his hat between his fists about chest high as he watched the small parade of boats getting further away. Shibugaki, who was normally considered the tough guy of the class was actually crying. "He was truly my best friend," Tamao sighed, "he protected me from the bullies in the school who'd pick on me and call me four eyes."

"I'm sorry I did that, Tamao," Shibugaki sobbed, "Atom helped me become a better person. I know I'm going to miss him as well."

All along the banks of the river, other groups of people had also paid their respects to the fallen hero by releasing floating lanterns upon the water. Cobalt and Uran released their boats into the water and watched as they floated away. Their parents did the same as Mustachio recited a Buddhist prayer for the dead. Uran kept an eye on her brother who seemed to grieve quietly one moment, and then talk to himself out loud the next.

Professor Ochanomizu then turned to face an object about 5 feet tall that was wrapped in cloth. He bent down and found the switch which controlled the lights that illuminated the object, and cleared his throat. "It's now my job to dedicate this statue to Atom's memory," he said with a crack in his voice. The professor pulled on a rope that was attached to the cloth and the wrapping around the statue fell to the ground to reveal the bronze rendition of Atom. It was a simple statue, Atom was standing on top of a marble pedestal with a happy smile on his face.

Uran walked up to her brother's likeness and wrapped her arms around it. "I miss you Atom-Ani!" she sobbed. Cobalt stared up into Atom's eyes, his own glazed over as if he was in a trance. "Why?" he asked. "Why did we have to die?"

Uran, Ochanomizu and Mustachio starred at Atom's brother whose face was locked gazing at the statue, the expression on his face as if he was in contact with the fallen hero. "Yes, I understand!" he said, "I know what I have to do. How will I find him? Yes, I can do that. You have my word!"

Atom's father had been watching Cobalt's strange behavior. "What is wrong with Kobaruto, dear?", he asked his wife.

"He's just grieving, dear," Cobalt's mother replied.

"I'm not so sure about that," the father replied.

Cobalt looked surprised at the way his parents were looking at him. "What's going on here, you guys see a ghost or something?" he asked.

"Actually YOU were just acting like you'd just been talking to one." Uran told her brother.

* * *

 **The professor** still had lots of paperwork to get though. Although world affairs had mostly settled back to their usually disorder, there were many Ministry projects that needed to either get back on track, or be abandoned in light of the mass exodus and return of humanity to the planet. There was a knock on the door, and when he turned to see who was there, Uran, Cobalt, and their parents had entered the room.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" the professor smiled.

"I think there is something wrong with our Kobaruto, Hakase," the robot mother said with worry in her voice. "We're still grieving for Atom, and now poor Cobalt seems to be loosing his mind."

"He hasn't been himself ever since you told us that Atom wasn't coming back," the father said. "He's been acting like he's possessed by his brother's ghost!"

"I'm sure he's just grieving," the professor said, "but I can run a systems check on the boy if you'd like."

Uran looked at her father and mother, and then at Kobaruto. "I'm sorry, Cobalt," she said, "I'm going to have to tell them."

"Tell us what?" the professor asked.

"Cobalt has been acting as if he was possessed ever since the day we said goodbye to Atom when he boarded that rocket to deliver the capsule to the sun." Uran replied. "I was the only one who noticed, for whenever anyone else was looking at him he was just fine. He's been acting queer around me ever since I saw what happened."

"What happened, Uran dear?" Her mother asked.

"It was the day when we all rode the gantry elevator up with Atom before he got on board the rocket." Uran replied. "You two went back down to the ground before Cobalt and I did. Atom and Cobalt were taking a long time to say their goodbyes to each other. I had already turned to walk away, but I suddenly stopped and looked back. Atom opened up Cobalt's chest panel and then reached inside his own for a cable. He connected himself to his brother and then whispered in his ear. They stood next to each other like that for a good five minutes before Atom undid the connection between them and Cobalt turned to walk away. The last thing Atom told Cobalt was 'Remember!' "

" **Remember?"** Cobalt said. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"That was the last thing Atom said to you," Uran said. "What did he mean by that!"

"I don't recall him telling me that," Cobalt replied. "I don't remember anything about what you claim happened between the two of us."

"Just sit down and let me examine you, Kobaruto." the professor said. "We will figure this thing out."

Cobalt sighed and quietly sat down in the chair next to the computer. Professor Ochanomizu hooked the boy robot up to the computer instrument panel and started a diagnostic program. Cobalt seemed to drift away from himself as he sat there. His eyes glazed over, and then became crystal sharp. "I need to find Sensei!", he said. "Only he can relieve me of this burden and restore what we've lost. We must find him, Hakase!"

"See what I mean?" Uran said, as she pulled her right lower eyelid down with her pinkie finger. "He's gone wacko!"

"That's not nice, Uran!", her mother scolded. "Your brother is deeply troubled by something. Don't make fun of him!"

The professor had been watching the graphical display on the computer diagnostic panel and he'd heard Kobaruto's voice. "Your mother is right, Uran," he said. "You shouldn't make fun of Cobalt. I don't think that he's gone wacko, as you put it. Cobalt is deeply troubled. From your description of what transpired between Atom and your brother just before he left for space, and the readings I've been getting on this computer I think I know what's wrong with poor Kobaruto."

"Really?" Atom's father asked.

"Indeed." the professor smiled. "It seems that Cobalt has developed a dual personality disorder. He's got two different Kokoros floating about inside of his head. Atom knew that he'd probably not return from his mission, and it looks like he downloaded a copy of his Kokoro into the nearest available computer memory before he boarded that rocket."

"You mean," Atom's mother asked.

"Yes, Atom may be still with us," Ochanomizu replied, "inside of Kobaruto!"

* * *

 **Mustachio** gently pulled on the facial hair just above his lip. "I don't understand this,"

"It's really quite simple," the professor replied. "It seems that Atom knew he was not going to be returning from his mission, and at the last instant he had an idea on how to preserve his Kokoro."

"By putting it inside of his brother?" the teacher asked.

"Exactly! There are now two souls trapped inside of that poor boy's electronic brain. Poor Kobaruto's AI isn't strong enough to coexist with the more dynamic persona of his brother. I'm going to have to extract Atom from Cobalt soon, or they will both cease to exist when Kobaruto's electronic brain fries itself. I've got Cobalt in a low power mode at the moment so we have some time to figure this out, but I can't leave him that way forever."

"Why can't you just store Atom's AI in one of the Ministry's computers?" Mustachio asked.

"That would only be a short term solution at best." Ochanomizu sighed. "A robot's Kokoro must have access to sensory inputs and outputs or it will slowly deteriorate. No, I'm going to have to find a suitable replacement robotic body for Atom's AI. He knew this when he put a copy of himself into Cobalt, he knew Kobaruto's body was close enough to his own to support his Kokoro."

"So who is this Sensei that Cobalt insists he must find?" the teacher asked.

"Atom knew that there was only one person who could build him a replacement body," Ochanomizu sighed. "I was able to repair him most of the time, although many parts of his systems remained a mystery to me. I think it's fairly obvious who Cobalt was referring to, Atom wants us to find his original creator, Dr. Tenma."

* * *

 **Professor Ochanomizu** was yelling into the phone, but he apparently was getting nowhere with the person on the other end of the line.

"That's impossible!" he yelled. "What kind of sloppy record keeping did you guys keep? Sure I realize that the shit was hitting the fan all over the place, but no one could simply get on a rocket and not be noticed. I can't believe that!"

The professor slammed the telephone back onto its cradle. "I've just been on the phone for an hour with the space authorities. They've got records for every person that got on one of the ships in the fleet to escape from the Earth during the solar emergency. They insist that nobody has any recalculation of Dr. Tenma being on any of the those spaceships."

"Isn't it possible that he just decided to remain behind on Earth?" Mustachio replied.

"I suppose so, although it is rather unlike his character," the professor said. "Tenma was always a self centered individual, his instinct would have been to save himself and not remain behind to die."

"I'm not so sure about that," Mustachio replied. "After Tenma abandoned Atom, he became a recluse. We only saw him once after you took over the leadership of the Ministry, that was when the Herald Brothers got involved with the theft of Kutcher's statue."

"Yes, I remember that," the professor replied, "Although Atom was really the only one who saw Tenma at that time."

"I think the man developed an acute case of Hikikomri," Mustachio said. "He very well may have remained behind on Earth when everyone else departed. Only knowing him, he probably built himself a safe place to hide out, something like a bomb shelter."

"Well let's hope so." Ochanomizu sighed. "However I still don't have a clue as to where he'd be hiding."

"Atom would know," Uran said.

"Yes, I believe he would." the professor said, "Which means that Kobaruto also knows where to look for Atom's creator. The problem is that not much of Atom's Kokoro comes to the surface inside of his brother's mind. We're going to have to find some way to help Cobalt access that information."


	3. Chapter 3

**194**

 _Three_

 **Cobalt** remained strapped in the chair next to the computer rack in the laboratory. He seemed to be in a semi-conscious state, his eyes were opened but his limbs were stiff and rigid. The professor adjusted the controls to bring him to a higher state of power and the normal color returned to his eyes.

"Atom-Ani!" Uran said, as she poked Cobalt in the chest, "Are you in there?"

"Stop poking me!" Cobalt complained to his sister. "What are you all doing to me, anyway?"

The professor placed a hand on Cobalt's shoulder. "The reason that you've been having these 'moments' Kobaruto," the professor started to explain, "is because Atom's consciousness is inside of you. Every now and then, it tries to emerge to the surface and you become aware of it, and sometimes you even converse with it, however, you don't have any short term memory of ever doing so."

"But how...?" Cobalt asked.

"You apparently don't remember what happened just before Atom left for space, do you?" The professor asked.

"NO, I've already told you that!" Cobalt insisted.

"That's when Atom joined with you, that's when he downloaded his kokoro into your brain for safe keeping," Ochanomizu explained. "Now we need to find a way to reach Atom's mind, we think he holds the key to finding the whereabouts of Tenma-Sensei. Atom believes that the man who created both of you still exists somewhere on this planet, and he can build a new body for him."

"Couldn't you do that?", Uran asked. "You did build me."

"I can build robots," the professor said proudly, "rather good ones too. Uran, you were one of my best efforts, but sadly you're hardly of the caliber of Atom. Dr. Tenma was, or rather we hope still is, a genius. Atom was the most advanced robot ever built by anyone."

 **Uran** quickly stuck her hand into the professor's vest pocket and yanked out his pocket watch. She held it by its chain and dangled the fob in front of Cobalt's face, swinging the timepiece back and forth.

"Watch the watch!" Uran instructed he brother. "Keep your eyes on only this!"

Cobalt's eyes crossed as they tried to follow the movement of the watch as it swung barely inches from his nose.

The professor laughed. "What are you trying to do Uran, hypnotize your brother? The two of you are robots, that won't work."

"Anyone can be hypnotized if they want to be!" Uran insisted. "I read that on the internet!"

"That only applies to people!" the professor started to explain, his own eyes already locked into step with the movement of his antique timepiece. He quickly shook his head and blinked his eyes, to break the spell.

"Atom-Ani!" Uran again insisted, "Talk to me!"

Strangely enough, Uran's attempt at hypnosis on Kobaruto seemed to be having an effect. The cobalt blue of his eyes faded and were replaced by a deep brown color. He blinked and suddenly turned his head around. It was only when he spotted the professor standing next to Uran that he again spoke.

"Hakase!" The voice was Atom's and not Cobalt's!

Atom's parents were still in the laboratory, and they responded to the sound of his voice.

"Son, is that you?" his mother replied.

"Mom, Dad, Uran! Yes it is me!" Atom replied. "I guess that you've figured out by now what I've done. I can't remain inside of Kobaruto for long without endangering him. Hakase! You must try and find Tenma-Sensei so he can restore me! He knew long ago that the sun would begin to grow hotter, and it was he who created Napoleon! Umataro built himself a laboratory hideout deep under the southern polar ice where he planed to be safe when the Earth warmed. He's still there, in suspended animation waiting for me to awaken him. He entrusted me with that task, now I must pass that onto you!"

The brown of Atom's eyes softened in color as he fought to remain in control of Cobalt's body for just a little longer.

"I hope that Tenma-Sensei can restore me so I can be with all of you again! Mom, Dad, Uran, and you too Cobalt! I miss all of you terribly. Sayōnara."

Cobalt blinked. His eyes had regained their cobalt blue color. He grabbed at the swinging clock with his left hand, yanking it away from his sister. "Get this fool thing out of my face, Uran!" he insisted, "You know robots can't be hypnotized!"

"That's what you think!" she laughed.

* * *

 **Professor Ochanomizu** went over his packing list for the third time. He stood in the hangar and looked at the collection of items sitting on the floor of the building next to the large helicopter. Several loader robots were already beginning to stack the equipment onto pallets for loading into the aircraft.

"Are you sure you want to come with me?" the professor asked Higeoyaji Shunsaku Ban.

"There is no way that I'm staying behind," Mustachio insisted. "Besides, I just bought myself a brand new parka, and a pair of snow shoes, and I need to break them in!"

Uran and Cobalt stood in the corner of the hangar. "You be careful and take care of yourselves, Cobalt-Ani!" Uran said, giving Kobaruto a hug.

"Don't worry, we will," Cobalt replied. For the past week, he'd been referring to himself in the 'royal we', now that he had accepted the fact that he was carrying his brother around with him in his head. Cobalt had slowly become able to allow Atom to rise to the surface to interact with others, although it was difficult, and it took a great deal out of him. He closed his eyes and stood rigid to allow the moment. When he opened his eyes, they were brown again and he spoke in his brother's voice.

"Don't worry Uran-Chan, we will be successful!"

Uran recognized Atom's voice and she grabbed him again around his mid-section. "I miss you Atom-Ani! Please come back to me!" she sobbed.

Atom ran his fingers lightly through Uran's hair and kissed her on her forehead. "I will." he promised. He closed his eyes and again became rigid for a moment, when his eyes opened again they were the usual cobalt blue in color.

* * *

 **The JS Izumo** left the port of Tokyo, and turned southward towards the open ocean. Several large helicopters loaned by the military to the Ministry of Science were safely stowed away beneath her flight deck, along with other military aircraft that had also been modified for cold weather operation.

"I'm impressed, Hakase," Mustachio said, "you've managed to get an entire aircraft carrier at your disposal for this mission."

"That wasn't my doing," the professor replied. "When I announced the latest news about Atom and about my expedition intentions to the government, the emperor asked that this ship, and and several fighter wings, be put under my direct command!"

 **After** they crossed the equator and continued southward, it was soon obvious that the sun had indeed returned to normal, for winter was now approaching. A cold wind blew across the deck of the Izumo where Ochanomizu and Cobalt stood, watching the wake the ship was leaving behind it.

"We must be getting close to the Antarctic region now, Hakase, I can feel the air turning cold and I sense the magnetic fluctuations that occur near the pole."

The professor turned toward Cobalt, and saw the glint of brown in his eyes. "Atomu?" he asked.

"Yes Hakase, It is I again, " Atom smiled. "Now that we're well under way I needed to warn you of the issues ahead. Tenma-Sensei warned me to come alone, he's probably set traps to keep away unwanted guests. Obviously I couldn't obey his wishes under the existing circumstances, and I'm sure he will excuse my disobedience on this one. However, you will have to be careful."

"Better to ask for forgiveness after the fact, rather than permission before hand?" Ochanomizu replied.

"In this case Hakase, we don't have a choice." Atom nodded. "I've instructed Cobalt as to the course that you will follow, where the ship will set anchor, and in what direction your aircraft will fly. The last hundred miles or so will have to be made on snowmobiles as there will be no place to land even a helicopter deep in the central mountainous regions of the continent. I'll be with you again when you get close, until then I cannot tax my poor brother's mind and body any more. Until then Hakase, Sayōnara."

The cobalt blue in Korbaruto's eyes returned. "I know what we need to do," he smiled. "This time I remember everything that Atom said. It's been getting a bit easier each time I've let him come to the surface, and I have short term memory of it all now. Perhaps I'm getting used to it, and maybe I can allow him more time to be with us."

"Are you sure about that, Cobalt?" the professor asked.

"Yes," Cobalt smiled. His eyes suddenly rolled backwards in their sockets and he lost his balance. Ochanomizu caught Cobalt before he fell, grabbing him around his torso just under his arms. Cobalt slowly regained his feet.

"Arigatō, Hakase," Cobalt said. "I guess it's still a tax on my systems. I don't mind though, It gives me comfort to have Atom with me."

"You're a wonderful brother, Kobaruto," the professor said. "I hope Atom knows how lucky he is."

* * *

 **Shunsaku Ban** was having a bit of a hard time trying to get his boots on. "These stiff, heavy things make me look like Frankenstein," he complained.

Outside on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, the icy wind was howling, and swirls of snow filled the air.

"Not a very nice day to be starting our journey inland," the professor sighed, "But the Admiral tells me that we can expect it to only get worse. We'll only have a few hours of daylight each day, and it won't be long before we won't be seeing the sun at all."

"Maybe we shouldn't have decided to make this trip during the Antarctic winter, Hakase," Mustachio said. "We will freeze our collective asses off on those snowmobiles."

"The timing of our expedition wasn't chosen on the basis of the weather, and we must find Dr. Tenma as soon as possible. We'll be wearing the heated suits that the Ministry designed for sub-zero expeditions," Ochanomizu told him. "The snowmobiles are winterized, and they have high capacity power supplies to power those suits, we'll be warm enough with them on."

 **Captain Ketchup** started the engines on the helicopter, which had been kept warm during the loading of their equipment by the APU's. There were two other heilo's warming up on the flight deck to carry the rest of their equipment. They would be taking advantage of the remaining few days of available sunlight before the long, dark, Antarctic winter set in to make their way inland. The helicopters were capable of flying at night, and through some fairly bad weather, but they needed the limited availability of some daylight to decide where to make their base camp before heading inland by snowmobile.

Cobalt sat up front in the navigator's position in the cockpit. Captain Ketchup, and his first officer buckled themselves in, while the professor and Higeoyaji took their seats behind them in the front of the cargo bay. Several naval and JAF junior officers were also aboard their helicopter, with about a dozen more in the two other aircraft.

"Are we good to go, Hakase?" Captain Ketchup asked from the cockpit.

"Hai!" the professor replied, "Let's get started."

Ketchup advanced the throttle and pulled upward on the cyclic control. The aircraft rose quickly off the flight deck and turned into the wind. Behind them, the two other helicopters became airborne and the small squadron circled the Izumo once before crossing over the Antarctic shoreline and heading inland.

Cobalt heard Atom's voice in his head, and he looked down at the instrument panel at the navigator's position. "Turn to a heading of 180 degrees magnetic," he told Ketchup, then lock your gyro compass on a heading of 173 degrees. Continue to fly that heading at 180 knots for one hour."

"Roger, that," Ketchup replied.

"I'll be monitoring our position constantly with the instruments, and my own internal sensors," Cobalt said. "I'll advise you well in advance of upcoming course corrections."

"Hai!" Ketchup replied. His first officer communicated Cobalt's navigation instructions to the two other aircraft over the radio.

Ahead of them, just above the horizon, a band of gray clouds seemed to be building. The sun was already starting to head down, Cobalt figured that they had maybe another 90 minutes of usable daylight left before they would be making camp for the night.

"We'll be setting up a base camp just as it starts to get dark," Ochanomizu told Mustachio. "We'll continue our trek inland at dawn and hopefully we'll make our final base camp stop before dark tomorrow. Then we'll be making the rest of the trip on the snowmobiles."


	4. Chapter 4

**194**

 _Four_

 **Skunk Kusai** stood up looking through the optics of the periscope next to the stairs leading up to the conning tower. He watched as the three helicopters on the deck of the Izumo warmed up their engines for takeoff. "Looks like we've got competition," he said.

Acetylene Lamp pushed his companion away from the periscope and put his own face up to the binocular lenses. "That's a helicopter class aircraft carrier," he muttered. "What the hell is that doing here?"

"It looks I've been right about all the radio chatter we've been picking up the past few weeks," Skunk replied. "The evacuation fleet has been recalled. I guess it was all a false alarm."

"Not likely," Lamp countered. "Judging by how hot it was getting back home it's pretty clear to me that the situation was real. But you're right in the fact that it wasn't the end of the world, at least not this time. Well we still might be able to pull this off if your information about the underground water way is correct."

"It is." Skunk insisted. "There is an ancient river that flows under the ice cap all the way through the continent. The engineer that built Tenma-Sensei's doomsday hideout had no scruples when it came to selling me the information."

Skunk grabbed the handles on the periscope and lowered the instrument into its retracted and locked position. "Prepare to dive this boat," he said, "We're going to get underway and see if we can beat those fly boys from the Japanese Navy to the prize."

* * *

 **The CH-47J** Chinook and the two UH-1N Huey helicopters set down on a thick sheet of pack ice a few minutes after the last of the sun dipped below the horizon. The larger and heavier Chinook was packed with all of the expedition's gear. The professor, Shunsaku Ban, and Cobalt along with some of the junior officers of the JSDF had been in the forward part of the machine, the rest of the military personnel were in the two Hueys.

Professor Ochanomizu sat in the insulated tent that had been quickly set up by the military crew. He had his heavy parka on over two layers of insulated underwear, with two sock hats under the hood of the winter over outfit. He was attempting to operate his tablet computer with a pair of thick insulated gloves on his hands.

Mustachio looked over the professor's shoulder on the man's left hand side while Cobalt stood behind him on his right. "According to our navigator this should be our current position," the professor said, pointing at a map on the tablet.

Cobalt looked at the map and nodded his head. He then drew a line from their current position towards the interior of the continent. "That's the course we'll need to follow when we set out again," he said.

Captain Ketchup finally got one of the Coleman heaters fired up and the men inside the tent huddled around the warmth. Ketchup looked at Cobalt and remarked, "Don't you feel cold, dressed like that?"

Except for his blue boots and dark briefs Cobalt was naked. "My sensors know what the temperature is inside of this tent," Cobalt replied, "but I'm not uncomfortable. I'm a robot so I don't feel the temperature the way humans do."

"I know that," Ketchup said, "But looking at you standing there with no clothes on when it's 40 below outside of this tent give me the willies!"

"I'm sorry." Cobalt said shrugging his shoulders. "I didn't think to bring any winter gear with me, it would have only been extra weight and not needed."

"He's right, you know." Ochanomizu laughed. "Working around robots all my life I've gotten used to it, but I can see your point!"

"I think we have some extra parkas stowed in one of the Hueys," Ketchup said, "Why don't you go get one and try it on for size. It would make ME feel more comfortable."

"Sure, OK." Cobalt replied as he walked out of the tent.

* * *

 **Lamp** sat in front of the large sonar display with a pair of headphones sitting loosely over his ears. He watched the amber trace on the CRT screen as it painted the echo of the sub's SONAR. Skunk looked up from his position at the pilot controls and yelled back towards his companion, "See I told ya."

"It's a pretty wide passageway so far," Lamp replied. "I'd just worried that it will dead end on us in the middle of nowhere and we won't be able to turn around."

"Not to worry," Skunk said reassuringly, "I can feel the current, we're on the right path."

The two master criminals had decided to stay behind on Earth while the rest of the population had evacuated themselves from the planet. As soon as the armada of spaceships was gone, Lamp and Skunk helped themselves to everything they could steal. Of course all of the planet's robots had remained behind, but with the humans gone all the police had nothing to do.

After hiding as much of their ill gotten gains as they could, Skunk and Lamp boarded the submarine that they had obtained month's before the mass exodus of the human race from the planet, and they headed for the southern polar region to enjoy what cooler weather they could. Skunk spent several months studying the data he'd gotten out of an engineer he'd paid off, and he'd finally figured out just where Dr. Tenma had hidden himself. The story that Skunk had heard was that the mad roboticist had put himself in suspended animation awaiting for the world to cool off. A perfect opportunity to rob the guy blind of all of his secret technology he'd undoubtedly squirreled away. Of course with the sun now unexpectedly back to normal, the race was now on to get to Tenma before someone else did.

* * *

 **The three** insulated tents were now erected and were at a more comfortable 5 degrees Celsius inside compared to the 40 below outside. One of the tents was set up to serve as sleeping quarters for the military personnel, one as the professor's HQ, and the third as mess hall and kitchen. The evening's repast wasn't going to be anything fancy, Ketchup had already broken out a case of MRE's.

"This stuff tastes awful," Mustachio complained.

"Don't worry, it won't kill you," Ketchup replied as he chowed down. "I do wish the JSDF had specified an 'Asianized' version of the rations when they ordered them from the US suppliers, but nutrition wise this stuff has everything you need to keep going."

"Well they did substitute this good green tea for the coffee," the professor said as he drank the hot beverage.

"I suppose that's something," Mustachio sighed.

 **Ochanomizu** stepped out of the tent and walked a few paces towards the open area in the middle of where the three aircraft were sitting. An APU was left running on the ground, the generator was blowing warm air though three large insulated vent hoses into the engine compartments of the helicopters. One of the pilots was sitting inside the cockpit of a Huey, it was a little warmer in there thanks to the waste heat being vented from the back of the aircraft though the area where he sat. "I really don't think you guys need to baby sit the aircraft all night," the professor told him. "I highly doubt that anyone is going to try and sabotage or steal them."

"Just force of habit," the pilot laughed. "I'll probably turn in after a while. I've got some thinking to catch up on."

The professor looked up at the night sky. The southern cross was clearly visible overhead as the clouds had parted and the wind had died down. Cobalt caught up with him and put his arm on his waist.

"The sky looks beautiful doesn't it Hakase?" he asked.

"Yes it does," the professor replied. "It's been a long time since I've been in the southern hemisphere, I've never had a chance to really study the constellations visible in this part of the sky."

Low on the horizon, a thin sliver of a crescent moon shed its light on the ground and cast some long dim shadows. The moonlight fell on Cobalt's face and the professor saw the brown appearing in the boy robot's eyes. "Just wanted to see you again, Hakase." Atom said softly. "You're making good progress so far, in two more days you should be making your way towards Tenma's sanctuary on snowmobile. That's when you'll need my help to avoid his booby traps."

"I'm curious Atom," The professor asked, "For how long have you known about what was going to happen, and why didn't you let me know about it?"

"I guess I've known ever since I was first activated, but I didn't realize it until I was about to get on that spaceship to deliver the projectile to the sun," Atom replied. "Somehow Dr. Tenma knew what was was going to happen, he knew that the sun would eventually enter a runaway phase and that the Earth would become too warm for humans, except in the polar regions. He planned for this, and he put that knowledge in the back of my mind. It was only activated when I realized that I was going to sacrifice myself to save the world, and I then I knew that I had to put that knowledge somewhere safe."

"So that's why you downloaded your Kokoro into your brother," Ochanomizu said, "Not to save yourself, but to fulfill a duty to your creator."

"Hai, Hakase." Atom answered, "We'll talk again in a few days."

Cobalt smiled at the professor. "Don't worry Hakase," he said, "I'm quite all right. But maybe you should hold my hand and walk me back to our tent, just in case."

Mustachio was already comfortably wrapped up in his sleeping bag when the professor and Cobalt returned. "Ketchup said we'd be leaving before first light," he said, "you'd better get some rest."

"I agree," Ochanomizu replied.

"You were talking to him again, weren't you?" Shunsaku Ban muttered.

"Hai. Cobalt has been allowing him to come to the surface now and then," The professor said. "The two of them seem rather lonely. This experience must give them a sense of the infinite, a kind of awakening that only the Buddha himself could describe."

"I never thought of that," Mustachio said.

The professor crawled into his sleeping bag. Cobalt turned off the lantern that was sitting on a table and sat down on the cold floor. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a troubled sleep.

 **The** three helicopters took off early the next day a few hours before the Antarctic sun begrudgingly showed itself above the horizon. Cobalt again took his position by the navigation instruments in the cockpit giving Captain Ketchup the course information to follow. The two Hueys followed closely behind the CH47J in a sort of diamond formation.

With the sun now almost fully above the rim of the world, the shadows of the three aircraft were visible on the ground against the white snow and ice covering the ground. Cobalt directed Ketchup around a small range of mountains that had appeared directly in their path.

"We could have easily flown above those," the Captain complained, "why deviate around them?"

"I'm looking for landmarks," Cobalt replied.

Ketchup glanced around to look at the robot's face and thought he saw a glint of brown in those cobalt blue eyes, but he blinked and then decided that he'd been mistaken.

* * *

 **Acetylene Lamp** pressed the headphones tightly against his ears. He thought he heard a double echo in the SONAR return, but the image on the CRT didn't show anything abnormal up ahead, yet. Skunk saw the concentration on Lamp's face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Come look at this!" Lamp replied.

Kusai looked at the screen and then picked up the spare pair of headphones that hung on a hook below the SONAR panel. He listened to what had caught Lamp's attention and frowned for a second.

"Looks like we've come to a fork in the road." Lamp said, pointing to the display which had now started to visualize graphically what he'd been hearing for the past five minutes.

Skunk was already paging though maps on the navigation computer. He finally seemed to ease up and smile. "Relax, Lamp," he said in a cheerful voice. "It seems we've reached the first landmark on the map. Nothing to get excited about."

"I thought you said this underground river went straight from the ocean to Tenma's hideout," Lamp questioned.

"It does!" Skunk insisted, "but there are a few forks in the road that lead to dead ends. Boobie traps that Umataro had left behind to guard his little secret. Fortunately, they're all clearly marked on my map."

"I just hope that your map is correct!" Lamp grumbled.

"It is," Skunk replied. "It came from a very reliable source."


	5. Chapter 5

**194**

 _Five_

 **The three** aircraft reached the edge of the interior mountain range while the sun was still above the horizon. They spotted a large level area where they could make their second base camp and break out the equipment for the final push inland via snowmobile.

"Atom has indicated to me that Tenma's sanctuary is nestled somewhere in the middle of the interior mountains, and that there is supposed to be an obvious trail wide enough for the passage of our machines," Cobalt explained. "This is the correct location to start our overland trek according to the information that Tenma implanted in Atom's brain at the time he first activated him."

"That was decades ago," Mustachio pointed out. "By now the passageway through these mountains could have been buried deep under snow pack."

"You're forgetting one thing," the professor replied. "Much of that accumulation of snow has evaporated during the year long heat spell that this planet has been under. It's only been very recently that polar weather conditions have returned to this region. Everything we see here now should be quite similar to the way that it was when Tenma-Sensei first had this retreat constructed."

"He must have built it while he was still head of the Ministry," Cobalt said.

"Yes, I'd forgotten that," Ochanomizu laughed. "The records of his research into the sun that enabled him to predict what would happen in the coming decades must have been expunged from the Ministry's computer data banks along with any record of his using Ministry funds to build this secret bunker under the southern pole. Tenma was a master of deceit, that's also how he was able to make use of the Ministry's resources to build Atom as a replacement for his own son."

 **The base camp** was mostly assembled by the time the sun had set. Cobalt helped the military crew unload the snowmobiles from the Chinook helicopter, and get them fueled. To each of the snowmobiles was attached a sled which was loaded up with the supplies they'd be taking with them. There were nine snowmobiles in the expedition, one each for the professor, Shunsaku Ban, and Cobalt plus six of the junior officers of the JSD forces coming along. A skeleton crew of the JSDF would remain at the base camp to relay radio messages between the expedition and the Izumo.

After spending yet another night on the ground in preparation, the expedition started off a few hours before dawn. The convoy of snowmobiles rode in a double file behind Cobalt who took the lead. As Atom had indicated to his brother, there was an obvious trail leading through the mountains. Two hours travel into their voyage the expedition came to a fork in the trail, one of the paths snaking upward, the other continuing around the mountain.

"Which way do we go from here," the professor asked as the group of snowmobiles stopped at the fork.

"It would be easier to go around the mountain than up and over it," Moustachio suggested.

Cobalt looked down one fork of the path and then the other. He then turned around to face the group, his eyes now a vivid brown in color.

"This is the first of Tenma's booby traps," Atom told them. The obvious thing would be to go around the mountain, but that path leads to a gorge that was rigged with explosives to trigger an avalanche. If we take that path we will be trapped in a box canyon. The other path does take us upward into the mountains, but there will be another fork with a branch leading back down to the original at a point past the danger."

"Well in that case," Mustachio corrected himself, "we should take the fork upwards!"

* * *

 **The pinging** sound from the SONAR developed a hollow echo to it and Lamp pressed the headset closer to his ears to hear all the details. He adjusted the controls on the display to clarify the image. "The channel is opening up ahead," Lamp told skunk. "It also seems to be open up on top as well."

"Let me see that!" Skunk said, running towards the SONAR panel. Kusai smiled when he saw the display. "Full stop and take her up to periscope depth!" he ordered.

Skunk slowly raised the optical instrument until its head broke through the thin ice above them. He slowly scanned the horizon and then lowered the periscope.

"Suguremashita!" he said. "Ahead slow."

"Where are we now?" Lamp asked.

"We've just entered a large lake that is fed by the river we've been following," Skunk explained. "There will be a fork ahead of us soon and the only way to find the correct passage will be from the surface. We'll take it slow near the surface until I recognize the spot where we take our next turn."

* * *

 **As** Atom had foretold the trail leading upwards into the mountain soon forked and the expedition took the branch leading downwards. Behind them was the booby trapped canyon they had avoided, ahead of them the trail widened out onto a the surface of a large ice covered lake bed.

"It looks like we're supposed to cross this lake," Ochanomizu said as he examined the far shore with his binoculars.

"Is it safe?" Mustachio asked.

Cobalt got down on his knees and put his ear against the ice. He hit the surface of the ice with his knuckles and nodded. "The ice is over a foot thick. It will support the weight of our machines."

Cobalt got back onto his snowmobile and led the group out onto the ice. They were soon out in the middle of the lake and had a good view of the shore up ahead, and could see where the trail continued up into the mountains just beyond the shore.

* * *

 **The submarine** was now about halfway through the lake and they still hadn't spotted the passageway that would lead them onwards towards Tenma's hidden lair. They had stopped several times by now, pushing their periscope through the thin ice to look around. Skunk again called for full stop. "Give me a reading on the thickness of the ice above us," he asked Lamp.

"A few feet, maybe," Lamp reported, "Too thick to punch the periscope though."

"Very well then, blow all ballast tanks, we'll come to the surface quickly and crack the ice with the conning tower" Skunk ordered.

He punched the emergency ascent button and the old submarine quickly gained positive buoyancy. There was a sudden crunch as the u-boat broke though the ice and then a shudder as the vessel settled down.

* * *

 **Mustachio** was thrown off of his machine as the ice underneath him buckled. The snowmobile and its sled trailer flipped onto their sides and skidded away from the one time detective who was lying on his stomach with a bump on his forehead. Cobalt and the professor heard the crash and turned about to see their friend slowly rising up in the air as the ice heaved upwards all around him. The six members of the JSDF air and navy divisions stopped their machines several tens of meters from the site.

The conning tower of an old submarine rose up through the ice. Mustachio got to his feet and realized he was now standing on the deck of the ancient vessel, and he ran towards the base of the tower just as Skunk Kusai opened the hatch.

"Skunk, you bastard!", Shunsaku Ban shouted as he ran to tackle the criminal. One of the Naval officers had a rifle slung over his shoulder, and he quickly took aim at Skunk, lining him up in the cross hairs of his scope. Before he could get off a shot, Mustachio and Skunk fell back through the hatch and they both landed on the staircase leading downward into the sub.

Mustachio almost got the upper hand as the two of them tumbled down the ladder leading from the tower into the control room of the u-boat. Lamp had been standing near the hatch, and he came out of the shadows to hit the former detective on the back of the head with a monkey wrench.

"Good work!" Skunk replied, as he ran up the steps to close the hatch above him. "Emergency dive, now!" Lamp ran towards the control panel and hit the large red paddle.

* * *

 **The** six military officers ran onto the deck of the submarine just as the hatch was pulled shut. They tried to open it, but it was locked from underneath them. Cobalt ran onto the deck of the submarine and grabbed onto the hatch unlocking wheel and he groaned as he attempted to force it open.

The icy water of the lake began to lap around his feet as the submarine sank back below the ice. Cobalt almost had broken the lock mechanism free by the time the water was above his head, when he gave up and swam towards the surface.

The professor gritted his teeth. "Now what."

Cobalt pulled himself out of the hole in the ice where the submarine had been. "We continue on, Hakase." he said. "I think Mustachio can take care of himself, and I'm sure that Skunk is looking for Tenma's sanctuary just as we are. Let's double our efforts to get there before he does."

"Hai!" Ochanomizu nodded. They repacked the supplies that had been in the tow of Mustachio's machine onto the other sleds and continued on towards the far side of the lake.

* * *

 **Shunsaku Ban** awoke with a spitting headache. He struggled against the ropes that bound him to a chair sitting next to a bunch of pipes. "Ah, I see you're awake," Skunk cackled. "Welcome to the good ship Kusai."

"I'd sorta hoped you'd been broiled to death by now," Mustachio sneered at his captor.

"No such luck, mon ami!" Skunk laughed. "As you can see Acetylene and I have done rather well for ourselves. We found this old, but quite service vessel and had it refurbished with suitable electronics and robotic controls. The two of us can now handle her by ourselves instead of the crew of twenty it once required."

Skunk pulled up a chair and sat down in front of his captive. "I assume you and that bunch of JSDF types are looking for the same thing I am," Skunk said. "Good think we bumped into each other, I don't need your interference."

"Strange way to travel inland," Mustachio said "this being a continent, not a floating island."

"You lack imagination," Skunk replied. "Or perhaps you never heard of continental drift? Antarctica wasn't always at the bottom of the globe, it used to be in a much warmer spot, near the equator even! Back then there wasn't any thick ice pack cover, or so the scientists tell me. The river beds that once held flowing water were covered over by glaciers, but strangely enough due to salination or something like that, those old rivers still flow deep under the ice. Makes for a nice inland highway for a submarine."

Mustachio nodded as he understood. He'd never have thought that the sly devil would have been able to come up with such a brilliant idea, but then again it probably wasn't his own original thought. Still, Skunk had managed to take advantage of it.

* * *

 **The expedition** team regrouped on the far side of the lake. Atom rose to the top of Cobalt's consciousness and looked around though his deep brown eyes. "There are two trails leading inland from this point," he said pointing. "Both of them will end up at the same juncture, and neither one should present us with any surprises."

"Then which way do we go?" Ochanomizu asked. "I would vote for the shorter one, if there is such a thing in this case."

"Tenma didn't specify anything at this point," Atom sighed.

"I wish Cobalt had your ability to fly, Atomu," The professor said, "Then you could observe from the air which way might be the better one to follow."

Atom looked up one path and then the other. "I think the one on the right will be a bit easier," he finally replied. "From what I can observe in the far distance, that path is a little wider and straighter."

"Very well then," the professor replied. "Lead on."

* * *

 **The submarine** rose to the top of the lake under a patch of thinner ice. Skunk was able to push their periscope through the several inches thick cover and look around. He pulled his eyes away from the binocular oculars and laughed. "I can see where the river continues inland from here," he told Lamp.

"Turn thataways," he said, pointing to his left.

"I assume by that you mean 45 degrees to the port side," Lamp grumbled.

"That's exactly what I did say," Skunk replied.


	6. Chapter 6

**194**

 _Six_

 **Mustachio** leaned back in the chair to which he was bound. His wrists had been tired together behind his back by a single band of thick rope. His waist was bound to the chair and to a pipe that the chair was up against, the knot for that was just behind him, in reach if his wrists could be worked free. His ankles were also bound against the chair legs by separate pieces of rope. The former detective could feel the rough surface of the pipe behind him, and while his captors weren't looking at him he rubbed the rope binding his wrists against the coarse surface of the pipe. It was slow going, but he was gradually shredding the rope.

* * *

 **Cobalt** stopped his machine and signaled for the expedition to follow him in a single file along a barely visible fork off the path. One of the Navy airmen took a good look at the detour that was being proposed and the beckoning main trail and raised the obvious question, "Why this way? the other trail looks safe."

Atom's kokoro rose to the surface as his brother's eyes showed his brown color, "There is another booby trap along the main trail," he said. "The entrance to Tenma's lair lies along this less obvious path."

Ochanomizu nodded in agreement and the convoy continued to follow Cobalt's lead. By now there was almost no sunlight left and the robot boy had his eye searchlights illuminated to light the way.

"We must keep going all night if necessary if we are to get there before Skunk," the professor told the JSDF officers following him.

* * *

 **Skunk Kuasi** stood next to Lamp's station at the SONAR display, looking carefully at the image being painted in amber by the rotating arc tracing the CRT. "Is that it?" Lamp asked.

"I think it is," Skunk replied. "That's the channel that the engineers dug to reach the cavern where the hidden lair is located."

"You sure?" Lamp insisted.

"If it slopes sharply downwards, that's it," Skunk explained.

"It's too narrow to turn about if you're wrong." Lamp complained.

"We can always back our way out if necessary," Skunk said, shrugging his shoulders.

Kuasi went back to his pilot position and ordered the turn. The camera in the nose of the submarine showed the walls of the tunnel slanting deeper ahead of them. "OK, looks like we're on final approach now," he laughed.

* * *

 **The narrow trail** ended at the entrance to the wide cave like tunnel. The way ahead was blocked by three doors.

"It looks like you'll have to figure out how to open one these doors to get us inside," the professor told Cobalt.

"Yeah, but which one?" one of the officers questioned.

"That is the question," Cobalt agreed. This looks like the final booby trap, if we pick the wrong passageway from here we will be trapped."

"Didn't Dr. Tenma leave that information with Atom?", the professor asked.

"Yes he did." Atom said in his own voice though Cobalt's mouth. Cobalt lightly rubbed his fingers over the surface of each door, feeling for the unlocking mechanism. He looked carefully at each one before making up his mind, and pressing a slightly depressed area on the panel. The door slowly slid open to reveal a passageway leading downward.

"How did you know which one to pick?" Ochanomizu asked.

"Only a robot built by Tenma-Sensei would have known," Atom smiled.

"But Tenma built this place before you were constructed," The professor said.

"True, but at the time the door was last locked he left a programmed magnetic imprint on the surface of the door that only Cobalt and I could read," Atom said. "Only one of the doors had this message, and it was encoded in a way that my AI would understand."

"What was the message?"

"This way, Tobio!" Atom laughed. "He still calls me that!"

* * *

 **The U-Boat** surfaced inside of a subterranean lagoon. "Go up on the conning tower and look around," Skunk told Lamp.

Acetylene removed his headphones and climbed up the ladder. He cracked the hatch on the tower and looked around. "There's a dock here," he said though the speaking tube of the intercom, "I'll guide you in."

Skunk slowly inched the submarine forward and stopped along side the dock. Lamp grabbed some rope and tied the vessel up to the dock, and then called down to Skunk over the speaking tube. "All secure topside."

Skunk climbed up the conning tower stairs and exited the boat. "Shall we find what we came for?" he asked.

"What about the old man tied up inside?" Lamp asked.

"He's not going anywhere," Skunk laughed. "When we get back we can leave him behind."

* * *

 **Cobalt** stopped his machine and shut down the engine. They had traveled several miles though the subterranean passageway leading into the mountain and downwards, and had finally reached a dead end. A foot path continued onwards though a metal lined passageway that was too narrow for their machines.

"Lets off load what we can from the sleds into the back packs and continue on," the professor said. This appears to be the entrance into Tenma's fortress, it can't be much further."

Cobalt nodded as he strapped one of the largest packs onto his back. The professor and the JSDF personnel grabbed as much gear as they could carry and followed Cobalt as he led the way into the complex.

* * *

 **Mustachio** felt the rope binding his wrists snap in two, and he started to rub his hands together to restore his circulation. Once the feeling in his finger tips returned, he untied his legs and torso and carefully got to his feet. He then quickly explored the vessel that he'd been captive in for the past day and a half, looking for anything useful. He found some MRE rations and relieved his hunger and thirst. He then located Skunk's small arms locker and took a 9mm pistol and a several clips of ammo. The last things he spotted in the armory area were a gas mask hanging from a hook on the wall, and a small medical pouch containing a vial of liquid labeled 'antidote' and a hypodermic needle, he grabbed those as well. The teacher and former detective climbed up the ladder in the conning tower and found himself on the deck of the U-boat. He quickly scanned around him, but his captors were no where in sight. Up ahead on the far end of the dock he could see a passageway leading inward. Mustachio set out in that direction, keeping a lookout for the two criminals, and also for his friends who he hoped had already arrived.

* * *

 **The** metal walls of the passageway were lined with soft glowing LED lamps. The tunnel slanted downwards until it intersected with another similar looking passageway.

"Now which way do we go?" Ochanomizu asked.

Atom looked in both directions with Cobalt's now brown eyes. He sniffed the air and held up a finger moistened with a drop of sweat. "I smell salt air coming from that direction," he said pointing, "and I also feel a faint draft of air coming from there as well. I'm not sure why, but it could be that that passageway leads towards an under ground river that connects to the ocean. We want to go in the other direction."

"That is probably how Skunk intended to get here in his submarine," one of the naval officers was quick to point out. We'd better watch our backs, if he and his friends aren't here already, they will be shortly."

"I agree with you." The professor replied.

The expedition took the fork in the direction indicated by Atom. The passageway soon lead them to a heavy metal door that seemed to have no obvious way to open it. On closer inspection the professor noticed an indentation near the edge of the door that resembled a hand print. He held his own hand over it and frowned.

"It would be my guess that this door is activated by some kind of hand scanner. My hand doesn't fit in the depression, it was made for a much smaller hand than mine.

One of the officers looked closely at the door. "You're right, Hakase," he said, "The depression in the door was made to fit a child's hand."

"Mine." Cobalt said, "Or at least Atom's." He placed his right hand against the depression and found that it almost fit perfectly. The door glowed underneath his fingers as a bar of light slowly passed beneath them.

"I don't think it's going to work," Cobalt said, "Atom's hands are a bit smaller than mine, Tenma must have built this lock with him in mind." Cobalt closed his eyes and again willed his brother to rise to the surface. He opened his eyes, once again brown in color and the lock mechanism in the door suddenly hummed and clicked. The heavy steel barrier slowly slid inward on its enormous hinges.

* * *

 **Skunk and Lamp** made their way into the metal tunnel. "It won't be long now," Kuasi told Lamp. "Tenma's lair is just up ahead at the end of this tunnel."

"What if the professor and those military types got here before us, of if they are right behind?" Lamp asked.

"That's what these are for," Skunk told his companion. Kuasi handed Lamp a gas mask, and displayed several gas grenades that he pulled from his pocket. "These little pineapples each have enough knock out gas to put a dinosaur to sleep for a week," he boasted, and these masks will protect us from the effects. Plus, I also have an antidote to the gas, just in case."

"Looks like you've thought of everything." Lamp replied.

"Yeah, but then again, don't I always?" Skunk cackled. "I even thought of this," he said, handing Lamp a small pistol. "That's a magnetic gun for disabling pesky robots."

The two master criminals soon came to a fork in the passageway. Skunk looked down the tunnel in both directions. "That path leads upwards, probably to an entrance though the mountains. Our guests will probably be coming from that direction, so we will take the other fork."

* * *

 **The** members of the expedition found themselves inside of a large room with passageways heading off in several directions. The air inside was cold, just a few degrees above freezing. The air felt dry and a soft breeze gently blew though the room. It was obvious that the environment was being maintained by automated equipment. The chamber was filled with lots of scientific looking apparatus mounted on the walls. Several readouts were counting down, while others were counting up. An oscillograph display showed what looked like an EKG and EEG monitor.

"This equipment must be remotely monitoring Dr. Tenma's vital signs," Ochanomizu said. "He must be in here someplace. We should split up and find him."

Cobalt nodded. "I think I know where he is, but let three of the officers go out and search in the other directions."

Three members of the JSDF remained behind while the professor and Cobalt went off in one direction. The remaining three officers each took a different passageway to explore. They all kept in touch via their two way radios.

* * *

 **There was** a thump followed by a small explosion as the gas grenade that was tossed into the chamber detonated. The large room quickly filled with a thick green fog and the three JSDF officers passed out. Skunk and Lamp then entered the room, each wearing a gas mask.

"Looks like our guests made it here before we did," Lamp said.

"No problem," Skunk cackled. "This bunch of monkeys were left behind to guard the place, a lot of good they did."

"So now what, do we go out an explore on our own?" Lamp asked.

Skunk slowly examined the equipment lining the walls. "There must be a computer map in here someplace. Give me a few minutes to look," he said.

* * *

 **Cobalt and** Professor Ochanomizu entered the dimly lit chamber to find Dr. Tenma lying on his back inside of a transparent glass sarcophagus. A 3D holographic display floating above him indicated his vital signs. Although the man didn't stir, his voice emanated from within the chamber where his body lay.

"Tobio, thank you for coming for me!"

"Tenma-Sensei," Atom replied, "do you hear me?"

"Yes Tobio, I do," the voice replied. "My body is still deep in a state of hibernation, but my mind is aware of my surroundings and of your presence. I can't see you, but I can sense your kokoro."

"Then you don't know what has happened," Atom replied.

"You would not be here unless you manged to find Napoleon and he was successful in restoring the sun back to normal," Tenma replied. "The plans that I put in motion reached their intended conclusion, did they not?"

"They did Sensei," Atom replied, "Except that Napoleon was flawed. He did not work to set things right, instead he attempted to take control of the world. I had to resist his bad intentions and foil his plans. He was under the delusion that he was still part human, until I helped him discover that he was truly a robot, he did not follow your intentions. He was so ashamed of his actions that he destroyed himself and left it to me to complete the work. It was I who delivered the device into the sun and restored it, and I died saving the world as my body melted in the sun's heat."

"But yet you are here, Tobio!" Tenma replied.

"Only my kokoro is still here Sensei," Atom sighed, "however it will not be here for much longer."

"I see." Tenma's voice replied. "Then it is time."

A pool of light suddenly appeared on the other side of the room. Under that spotlight another transparent glass case appeared. Inside of that was the body of a robot that looked exactly like Atom.

"Tobio, I considered the possibility of what you just told me transpiring," Tenma's voice said. "I realized that Napoleon was a self centered genius when I transferred his kokoro from his dying body into that of a robot. I hoped that I had tuned out his flawed traits, but I realized that if I hadn't I could still count on your doing the right things. I was correct that Napoleon would find a way to restore the sun and the Earth, his was the only mind that could. I created a spare body for you in the event that if you had to intervene, you would somehow find a way to save your kokoro and bring it back here to me. I therefore programmed the systems in this facility to respond to Kobaruto's presence as well as yours."

Atom walked towards the light and looked at the robot in the glass case. It was a little taller than he had been, but otherwise it appeared almost identical. His eyes started to tear up.

"I assume that you've brought Ochanomizu Hiroshi with you," Tenma's voice asked.

"Yes, Umataro, I'm here," the professor replied.

"Very good." Tenma replied "You will have to perform the transference. The necessary equipment is in this room. Once you've restored Tobio to his body, he will be able to revive me."

 **Suddenly** the door to the chamber burst open and two seedy looking individuals barged in.

"Well look what we have here!" Skunk cackled. He tossed a grenade to the floor and laughed as the room filled with a thick fog. The professor held a handkerchief to his face but he was quickly overcome by the gas and was caught by Cobalt as he fell to the floor. Cobalt turned around just as Lamp shot him with the magnetic gun. The weapon's EMP field short circuited Cobalt's systems, and he blacked out and fell to the floor.

"Now we can loot this place," Skunk told Lamp.


	7. Chapter 7

**194**

 _Seven_

 **Skunk's** eyes fell upon the robot lying inside of the glass case. He tried to open it but the container resisted his efforts to raise the lid. The glass like material was hard as steel, try as hard as he could he could not smash it. He and Lamp looked around the room, but they found nothing of value.

"Come on Lamp, there must be a laboratory in this place somewhere with goodies worth stealing."

Lamp and Skunk left the sanctuary where Tenma lay in hibernation, stepping over the bodies of the professor and Cobalt who lay next to each other in the middle of the room.

* * *

 **Mustachio** entered the complex and found himself in a large control room whose walls were covered with instrumentation. Lying on the floor were three of the JSDF members, who seemed to have been drugged. Mustachio noticed a faint oder in the air, and he realized that the officers must have been overcome by poison gas. The air recirculation system in the complex must have purged the poison from the room before he'd entered, otherwise he would have been overcome by it also when he entered. Mustachio then remembered the medical kit he'd removed from the submarine. He filled the syringe from the bottle and injected each of the three men with one third of what he'd filled the syringe with, and hoped that he'd guessed right on the correct dosage. It took a few minutes for the antidote to take effect, soon the three men soon seemed to have recovered from the effects of Skunk's grenade.

"You guys OK?" Mustachio asked.

"I think so," one of the officers replied. "Skunk got the drop on us, he's probably searching the place for treasure."

"I'm going after him," the former detective replied, fingering the pistol he'd taken from the armory.

"Wait for us!" the officers replied.

The four men set out together though one of the passageways leading away from the control room. They hadn't gotten too far before they found the other three JSDF team members lying in the hallway ahead of them. Once again, Mustachio administered the antidote to the knock out gas.

"I hope Skunk has run out of those grenades," Mustachio said, I have one gas mask with me, and there are seven of us.

"He won't get the best of me again," the tallest member of the squad replied as he set his taser to the ready position.

Mustachio then noticed three blinking lights set into the floor. They flashed in sequence as if leading them down a specific path. "Let's follow the lights," he suggested. "It could be a signal from Tenma."

The seven of them continued along in the direction suggested by the floor beacons, they quickly saw a fourth, and then a fifth lamp in the pattern. There was no doubt about it, they were being led along the passageway though the complex. They bypassed several forks in the passageways, and ignored several doors along the way until they found themselves in Tenma's chamber.

The room was dark except for two pools of light, one illuminated Tenma's sarcophagus, and the other the body of a robot that looked like Atom. Lying in the middle of the room were the professor and Cobalt, each seemed to have been knocked out.

Mustachio injected the professor with some of the antidote and gently rubbed his arms trying to awaken him. He handed the pistol and magazines to one of the officers. "You guys go find Skunk and neutralize him. I'll stay here with the professor."

The tallest of the officers, an Air Force officer with dark green eyes, spoke out to the other five. "You guys go ahead, I'm going to stay here in case that bastard comes back."

"Hai!" replied a Navy man. The other five officers quickly exited the chamber.

* * *

 **Professor Ochanomizu** opened his eyes. "Mustachio!" he smiled upon seeing the teacher. "You made it here, thank god!"

"You OK, Hakase?"

"I will be," the professor replied. "Help me with Cobalt, will you?"

The professor opened the robot's chest panel and felt inside. "He must have been hit with a magnetic weapon of some kind, I'm going to have to restart his power pack."

"Put him on the table next to his new body," Dr. Tenma's voice replied.

Sure enough, a hatch in the floor had opened up and an operating table rose up next to the case containing the robot body. Mustachio and the professor carried Cobalt over to the table and placed him on it.

"Now connect him to the other," Tenma said as the lid on the case containing the unactivated body snapped open. The professor opened the chest panel of the robot body and pulled a cable out from it. He connected the free end of this conductor to a matching socket inside of Cobalt.

"Now you will have to manually activate the computer," Tenma explained.

A panel on the wall was now illuminated. The professor walked over to this and examined the controls. "Yes Sensei, I see what needs to be done." Ochanomizu replied.

He started to key in the required sequences.

* * *

 **Skunk and Lamp** were now on the other side of the complex where they had found a laboratory storage room filled with many storage volumes of computer data. "This looks like Tenma's entire technical library," Skunk cackled. "There must be blueprints to everything the man discovered and kept to himself in here," he said rubbing his hands together. "It's what we came for!"

Suddenly the lights in the room began to flicker. Everything seemed to be going dark, as if the power were being drained from the complex.

"We'd better get out of here!" Lamp yelled, "before we get trapped!"

The two criminals ran out of the laboratory and into the hallway. No sooner than they did that the lights began to go out. They ran towards the lighted end of the passageway, the lights going out behind them as they ran.

* * *

 **The three men** stood in a circle around the two robots lying next to each other. Atom's body was now glowing with a light that was getting brighter, and painful on the eyes. The same glow was surrounding Cobalt, it was now impossible to make out the forms of the two robots, only the vague outline of the tables they lay on could be discerned.

"Tobio, you will be reborn!" Tenma's voice said.

The glare over Cobalt's body subsided. Kobaruto slowly got up and he disconnected himself from his brother. He got off the table and walked over to the professor. "He's gone!" he said.

"What do you mean, Kobaruto?" the professor asked.

"Atom is no longer with me." Cobalt sighed.

"I think he's in there!" Mustachio said pointing to the still glowing body of the other robot.

Gradually the electrical hum and the glare surrounding Atom started to wane. Atom's form was now visible, still glowing with a soft white light as he slowly sat up on the table. He swung his legs over the side and his feet touched the floor. His form lost its incandescence as he stumbled trying to take his first steps and fell into the professor's arms. He looked up, and made eye contact with Ochanomizu.

"Hakase!" he sobbed, tears of joy flowing from his eyes.

The professor gave Atom a hug. "Atomu, you're back!"

Atom walked from the professor and carefully made his way over to Tenma's still sleeping form. "I'm here for you father." he said. Atom opened the lid of the sarcophagus He laid his hand on top of Tenma's forehead and placed his other hand on to a metal plate on the surface of the bed where the man lay. The bed within the sarcophagus began to glow and the color of Tenma's skin began to return to normal. Slowly he opened his eyes and he gazed into the moist brown of his son's. "Tobio, you came back to me," Tenma said as he sat up.

"No father," Atom said. "I am not Tobio anymore. I am Atom."

"You will always be Tobio to me," Umataro sighed, "Atom."

 **Suddenly** there was a tremendous blast. The entire mountain above them shook as did the ground beneath them. The Earthquake continued for several minutes before subsiding.

"What the hell was that!" The Air Force officer cried out.

At that the other members of the JSDF came into the chamber. They were dragging the limp forms of Skunk and Lamp with them.

"Thank god the rest of you are alright!" one of the naval officers replied as the group entered.

"What happened?" The professor asked.

"We found these two scumbags heading for the exit," the officer holding Skunk in a headlock replied. This one tried to toss one of his grenades at us, but I tackled him before he could pull the pin. Somehow he manged to get this out of his pocket and use it."

The officer tossed what looked like a remote control transmitter towards the professor.

"This looks like a detonator," Ochanomizu replied.

"It was." An Air Force man answered. "That sly devil had hidden some kind of bomb in his submarine. Must have been a low yield nuke because it seems to have brought the entire mountain down on top of us!"

"We may be trapped then," The professor sighed.

"We're all going to die here together," Skunk laughed. "I saw the engineer's report. This place is miles below the surface and the mountain is solid iron ore. It would take months to tunnel though, even for Astro!"

The professor looked at Dr. Tenma. "Is he telling the truth Tenma-Sensei?" he asked.

Umataro nodded. "I chose this location very well. We would be safe from almost any natural or man made calamity here. Skunk chose the ideal spot to detonate his device to seal the only passageways out."

Mustachio ran towards Kuasi and knocked him to the ground. He sat on top of the criminal and began to throttle him.

"Stop that!" Atom yelled, pulling the teacher away from the man.

"I'm sorry, Atomu," the teacher sighed. "My anger got the best of me."

Cobalt turned to his brother. "Come Atom, let's try and dig our way out."

"No, it's hopeless. Tenma's right. It would take us much too long, if it were even possible," Atom sighed.

"Tobio, I mean Atomu," Tenma smiled. "All isn't hopeless. It is true that you can't dig us out of here, but you can still free us from this trap."

"How, Sensei?" Atom asked.

"Your new body holds some secrets that you haven't yet discovered," Umataro laughed. "In rebuilding you, I made you much better."

"What do you mean Sensei?" Atom asked.

"For starters I gave you a little more strength, you now have one million horsepower!", Tenma explained. "I also gave you two high powered lasers, one in each index finger."

"Would I be able to cut our way out of here with those?" Atom asked hopefully.

"I don't think that would quite do it," The professor said. "You could cut through the walls of this complex with them, but not though miles of solid iron ore!"

"True," Dr. Tenma replied. "But Atomu has one more trick up his left sleeve."

Atom held up his left arm and looked at it. For an instant he didn't understand, but his subconscious autonomic system activated. His left hand folded up into the arm and the maw of a canon emerged. Atom instantly realized what he had to do. He stepped into the hallway and ran towards the entrance of the complex. He didn't get too far before he came upon the spot where the passageway had caved in and was blocked. Atom pointed his arm upwards.

The blast of the particle beam surge canon was incredible. The white hot plasma disintegrated the rock above him as he blasted a huge portion of the mountain away into space. The professor and Mustachio appeared behind Atom as his arm morphed back to normal. They looked up and saw stars in the night sky. "What have I done?" Atom gasped.

* * *

 **Skunk and Lamp** were tied up next to each other in the back of the CH-47J with two military officers sitting next to them. Atom and Cobalt were seated nearby also keeping an eye on the two criminals while they enjoyed each other's company. The professor and Dr. Tenma were also catching up on lost time.

"You knew about the coming disaster for decades, Sensei?" Ochanomizu asked.

"Hai, Hakase." Tenma replied. "I wanted make my knowledge public, but I feared it would cause a panic. Instead I sought out the expertise of the only scientist whom I thought could find a solution to the problem. Napoleon was a genius, but he was also careless. One of his experiments caused an accident that almost killed him instantly. I was able to transfer his mind into a robot body so he would be able to continue his work, but I fear that I only enhanced his dormant megalomania in the process. I build the complex under the south pole as a safe haven during the solar apocalypse that I knew would come."

"But why put yourself into a state of hibernation?" the professor asked.

"To keep myself from going nuts." Tenma replied. "It may sound strange to you, but even I would loose my sanity with only robots and no other human for company. No, I expected that Tobio, I mean Atomu, would come to wake me when it was all over. I planted that knowledge into his electronic brain when I built him."

"But it was Kobaruto that the task fell to," Ochanomizu said.

"I hadn't thought of that when I build Cobalt," Tenma said. "But I allowed for it when I built the shelter. It's a good thing you found Korbaruto and restored him. I had considered him a failed prototype while I was building Tobio. I was wrong about that."

"What are your plans now, Sensei," the professor asked.

"I'm going to fade back into the background again," Umataro sighed. "I am not a good father influence for Atomu. I will always be there if he needs me, but I won't be a part of his life. Don't worry though, I still have some unfinished business to take care of. I still want to leave this world better than the way I found it. I'm sure Atomu will do his part to accomplish that."

"Very well then Sensei." Ochanomizu replied, "Good luck."

"Arigatō, Hakase" Tenma said.

 _The End_


End file.
